Former No. 3 at Pentagon calls on Israel to act 'more strategically' and reconcile with Turkey.

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Israel’s hand extended in peace is not always responded to in kind by
governments in the region, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday in a
cryptic reference to the Turkish court’s decision the day before to indict four
former senior IDF officers.

Speaking at the annual conference of the
Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv – headed by former
military intelligence head Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, who was among those
indicted by the Turkish courts – Netanyahu said he wanted to send a “very clear”
message to IDF soldiers and officers that “the State of Israel will always stand
at your side, everywhere and everyplace. You defended us, we will defend you.
That is an important rule.”

On Monday, a Turkish court decided to indict Yadlin, former chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi and two other former senior
officers for involvement in the Mavi Marmara incident last year that led to the
killing of nine Turks attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of
Gaza.

Just minutes before Netanyahu spoke, Michele Flournoy, a senior
official in the Pentagon before stepping down earlier this year, told the same
forum that it was very important for “Israel to repair its relationship with
Turkey.”

Flournoy, who played a key role in shaping US President Barack
Obama’s national security policy, said Turkey was one of the strongest and most
influential voices in the region, remained a close and valued NATO ally for the
US and shared “our interest in preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear weapon
state.”

While acknowledging that she “understands that past events have
made concrete steps toward reconciliation quite difficult,” Flournoy said that
“if there is ever a time for Israel to rise above past differences and
recriminations with Turkey, now is that time.

Israel must act more
strategically, and I think there is tremendous opportunity to rebuild its
partnership with Turkey, and with other partners where it can. This is really
important at a time of such [regional] uncertainty.”

Foreign Minister
Avigdor Liberman, meanwhile, told visiting German President Joachim Gauck that
the fact that Israel did not respond in kind to Turkey’s “provocations” did not
mean it would allow Ankara to intimidate IDF soldiers operating according to the
highest moral standards.

Liberman said that for the last number of years,
Israel has conducted itself with “maximum restraint” in the face of Turkish
provocations, a policy he said dated back to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s berating President Shimon Peres at a conference in Davos soon after
Operation Cast Lead in 2009.

“But restraint does not mean that Israel
will allow the intimidation of its officers and soldiers acting under the
highest ethical standards, with full justification under international law, as
determined by the UN’s Palmer Commission report on the Mavi Marmara,” he
said.

Liberman said he hoped European countries would not cooperate with
Turkey regarding the “absurd charges” against the former IDF officers. He
further said he expected Europe to call Turkey to order and not go along with
the provocations of a NATO member state that has “lost its direction and acts
contrary to accepted international rules.”

The foreign minister said
Israel would continue to act responsibly and not be dragged into
counterprovocations against Erdogan “out of concern for regional peace and
stability.”

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